Tech Elite Not Quite So Elite

from the pretty-big-club dept

Thought you were a part of the tech elite? Are you more technically savvy than those around you? Welcome to the club. It turns out it's not a very small club. The latest from the folks at the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that 31% of people in the US are now considered tech-savvy. It's a little unclear how they determined just how tech savvy these folks were, but it sounds like a pretty basic test that they used. Still, there were some interesting findings. No surprise that when split by age, tech savvy folks tended to do different things with their time online. Folks in their teens and early 20s were creating blogs, "Generation X" folks are apparently more likely to spend for content online (though, they don't define what they mean, and if they're confusing services and content like some other studies), while tech savvy senior citizens are more likely to use the web for news or research. Of course, I do all three things - and I imagine there are lots of folks who do as well. Other findings show (not surprisingly) that the tech savvy folks spend more on technology, ways to connect, and on content. More of them have broadband connections and a much larger percentage have ditched their landlines for mobile phones. Finally, the tech savvy feel less overwhelmed by information overload, suggesting that (as we've said before) much of the problem with information overload is just getting used to new technology. Once you get the hang of it, and learn to manage the information, many of the problems fade away.